Browsing by Subject "Paediatric Oncology"

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    Open Access
    Interim analysis of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia treated on the Red Cross Children's Hospital Rx 2071 (adapted from the MRC AML 15 protocol)
    (2017) Thomas, Karla Mari; Davidson, Alan
    Background: Due to the poor outcomes achieved in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) treatment, the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital (RCWMCH) Oncology service changed from a BFM-87 based protocol to one based on MRC-AML15 in 2007. Rationale: This study was designed to assess the outcomes and treatment - related toxicity among children treated with RCWMCH protocol Rx 2071. Methods: This was a retrospective review of AML patients treated with Rx2071 between 2007 and 2012 at RCWMCH. Patients with acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL) and Down Syndrome were excluded. Risk was assigned by cytogenetics. Good risk patients were those with t(8;21), t(16,16) and inv(16). Poor and standard risk included all other cytogenetics according to MRC-AML15. Data pertaining to toxicity was obtained from patient folders. Results: Thirty five children were treated on Rx 2071 during the study period. Males comprised 51.4% (18/35) and females 48.6% (17/35). Age at diagnosis ranged from 0.33 to 12.51 years with the median being 5.68 years. Follow-up from remission in the patients who survived ranged from 1 year 10 months to 9 years 1 month with a median of 62.5 months. Fifteen patients had favourable cytogenetics. Event free survival (EFS) for the good risk group was 85.6%. Twenty patients presented with standard/poor risk cytogenetics. Five patients were deemed poor risk with one having major karyotype abnormalities and four not achieving remission. The remaining fifteen were deemed standard risk by cytogenetics. EFS in this group was 32.4%. Two standard/poor risk patients were transplanted in first complete remission (CR1) and two patients were transplanted in second complete remission. (CR2) Patients had a median of four neutropaenic fevers, and required a median of eight packed cell and eleven platelet transfusions. There were 39 positive blood cultures. There were no chemotherapy related deaths. Discussion: The EFS for good risk patients is excellent but the EFS for standard/poor risk group is not on par with results being achieved in high income countries. The toxicity is not excessive on Rx2071. The results achieved on this protocol were superior to that of the previous BFM- based protocol. Conclusion: The results of this study support the continued use of Rx2071 at RCWMCH.
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    Open Access
    Low grade gliomas treated at the University of Cape Town Academic Hospital complex: 2001-2017
    (2021) Kahl, Gisela; Davidson, Alan
    Background: The majority of central nervous system tumours in children are low grade gliomas (LGG). Long-term survival rates are high with a slow, progressive course. Tumour location and extent of resection affect outcome. Adjuvant therapy has an important role. Rationale: This study evaluated the demographic data of our patient population, the characteristics of LGGs in our setting, the time to presentation, and the role of adjuvant therapy including more targeted, novel biologic therapy such as BRAF/MEK inhibitors. The outcome of children with LGGs in our institution was assessed. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on all children < 15 years of age diagnosed with a LGG at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital (RCWMCH) between 2001 and 2017. Data were collected from patient hospital folders, as well as paediatric oncology records and Groote Schuur Hospital radiotherapy records. Results: Eighty-six children aged 0.10-13.76 years (median 4.74 years) were diagnosed with LGGs between 2001 and 2017 at RCWMCH. Median time to presentation was 60 days. Sixtyfive patients (76%) were classified as having a WHO Grade I and 21 patients WHO Grade II (24%) tumours. Five patients (6%) had metastatic disease at presentation. The most common sites involved were the cerebellum (27%), hypothalamus (17%) and cerebrum (14%). The most common histology was juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma (JPA) (n=62; 73%). Gross total resection (GTR) was achieved in 21 patients (24%). Twenty-four patients (27%) received chemotherapy of which 11 patients progressed. Twenty-two patients received radiotherapy (26%), of which 3 patients progressed. The estimated 5-year overall survival (OS) was 86.8% and the estimated 5-year progression free survival (PFS) was 42.8%. The presence of a BRAFV600E mutation was checked in 4 patients since 2013, all had JPA histology, and all were negative. Discussion: Our patient demographic differed from published data with respect to younger age at presentation and female predominance. Time to presentation was relatively short. The majority of LGGs were cerebellar, with JPA histology being the most common. GTR was achieved in almost a quarter of patients. WHO Grade II histology did not significantly impact PFS and OS. Children < 3 years had a lower PFS compared to children > 3 years, but OS was similar. OS in this study was comparable to published data in developed countries, however PFS was slightly lower. Conclusion: Our outcomes are similar to those achieved in developed countries. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are valuable adjuncts to treatment. The presence of a BRAF alterations should be tested in recurrent/progressive disease, to guide use of novel treatments.
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    Use of palliative chemotherapy in South Africa: National survey of paediatric oncologists and experience in a single unit
    (University of Cape Town, 2020) Büchner, Ané; Meiring, Michelle; Davidson, Alan
    BACKGROUND: Palliative chemotherapy is cancer-directed therapy, which aims at stopping or slowing down the progression of the malignancy even though it may not have any potential for remission or cure. In South Africa, delayed diagnosis of childhood cancer is a common problem for a variety of reasons including lack of health care facilities, transport, information about the disease and delayed presentation due to traditional healer visits or other cultural issues. In patients who present with advanced cancer, or in patients with relapsed cancer without realistic hope of cure, palliative chemotherapy can be offered in an attempt to manage symptoms, improve quality of life and prolong meaningful survival. OBJECTIVES: This research study evaluated South African paediatric oncologists' perspectives and practices regarding the use of chemotherapy in patients with cancer with no realistic hope of cure. The second part of the study described the use of palliative chemotherapy in patients who received treatment at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital Paediatric oncology unit. DESIGN & METHOD: An online survey was conducted among paediatric oncologists in South Africa. The main aims of the questionnaire were to assess paediatric oncologists' considerations around the use of palliative chemotherapy, and then focus on the most recent patients treated with palliative chemotherapy. For the second part of the study, a file review was done of deceased patients who died in the period from January 2012 to December 2018 and who had received palliative chemotherapy as part of their cancer management. We reviewed diagnoses, palliative chemotherapy regimens, timing of initiation and stopping palliative chemotherapy, and whether end of life decisions and discussions were documented. RESULTS: A total of 41 participants completed the survey, giving a response rate of 89%. The majority of the paediatric oncologists were either neutral or agreed that palliative chemotherapy should be considered. The most important treatment aim was to improve quality of life of the patient (92.7% of respondents). The most important considerations when prescribing palliative chemotherapy was to minimise toxicity of the chemotherapy regimen (4.56 mean, SD=0.5 utilising a 5 point scale where 1=not important to 5=very important), and the effectiveness of the chemotherapy (4.37; SD=0.48). Only 19.5% of patients received treatment primarily because parents requested it. According to the oncologists polled, the key considerations were largely achieved in the most recent patient treated with palliative chemotherapy. Individual opinions and preferences concerning recommending palliative chemotherapy differ between paediatric oncologists. Of the 305 patient deaths recorded in the study period, a total of 74 patients had received palliative chemotherapy and were included in the file review. The most common diagnoses were neuroblastoma (18.2%), retinoblastoma (15.6%) and osteosarcoma (14.3%). At the time of diagnosis, the median age of the patients was 6.0 years (range 0.3 to 17.6 years). In 47 patients (63.5%) the disease was deemed incurable at first diagnosis and palliative chemotherapy given from the onset of treatment, while 27 patients (36.5%) were given palliative chemotherapy at relapse. The median time from last palliative chemotherapy to death was 30 days (range 0-742 days). The main documented aim of palliative chemotherapy was to improve symptom control (97.3%) while parents' opinion played an important role in 32.9% of cases. About half of the patients (41 of 74, 55.4%) had documentation of symptomatic improvement. CONCLUSION: Although the overall attitude towards the use of palliative chemotherapy is positive, there is great inter-individual variation between oncologists in opinions and experience. The lack of empirical data to justify recommendations about palliative chemotherapy remains a problem, and the researcher hopes that this study will spark productive discussion and planning towards more structured use of palliative chemotherapy in children with cancer in South Africa. This study shows that many decisions around end of life care and decision-making could be better researched using a quantitative, prospective, interview-based approach. Repeated measurements of the child and family's quality of life and its associations with palliative chemotherapy should be a research priority in future.